Signalling structure in hypertext: support for the non-native reader Background I Text and the non-native reader Models of reading The non-native reader Structures of text Structures of knowledge II Hypertext NN reader support Strategies for NN reader support Training in text patterns/cues Training in knowledge structures Signalling structure in documents Examples of signal design A writing structure curriculum Extension Sources App. 1 An unfolding signal curriculum   Lawrie Hunter Kochi University of Technology lawrie@info.kochi-tech.ac.jp

1.3 Structure of text It is a truism (but nonetheless important) that the organization of text does not necessarily reflect the structure of the information in the text. Text structure which does not reflect knowledge structure is an obstacle to reading. Goldman and Rakestraw (1998) summarize research on the importance of structure in reading as follows: A. In text-driven (bottom-up) processing: 1. Structural cues improve identification of main or important ideas and their memorability. 2. Parallelisms between the surface structure text and the underlying conceptual structures of the information facilitate comprehension, i.e. comprehension is hampered when the two are not aligned. 3. Making the structure of a text more salient improves comprehension and learning.